Question 1

Guayaquil on Your Own

Accepted Answer

Travel advice for Ecuador warns against all but essential travel to Guayas, the province Guayaquil is in, though not for transit inside the airport, so read your own government's advice before you plan any time in the city. If you do have a few hours here, spend them on the riverfront and the old hillside quarter above it, and take extra care in the center, the south of the city and the port areas. Malecón 2000: The riverside promenade runs for about 2.5 km along the Guayas, with gardens, monuments, restaurants and the MAAC museum, and boats leave from its piers for trips on the river. Las Peñas and Cerro Santa Ana: Near the MAAC, the old quarter of Las Peñas climbs Cerro Santa Ana, where a path of 444 steps passes cafés and craft shops on the way to a lighthouse, a chapel and a naval museum at the top. Taxis: Book taxis through your hotel or a radio-dispatched company rather than hailing one in the street. Guayaquil taxis charge fixed prices instead of using meters, so agree the fare before you get in. Carry ID: Ecuadorian law requires you to carry ID. Carry a printed copy of your passport, including the photo page and your entry stamp, and keep the passport itself safe. Keep the flight in mind: Leave a wide margin for the trip back to the airport before a Galápagos flight.

Question 2

Island Paperwork and City Transport

Accepted Answer

Every visitor to the Galápagos pays a national park entrance fee, which was USD 200 for most foreign visitors over 12 in October 2026 and USD 100 for children. A transit card and a biosafety declaration are needed as well. The Transit Control Card was USD 20, cash only, bought at an airport booth with your plane ticket. Check both fees before you go. Every visitor must also complete a biosafety declaration, either online up to 48 hours before the Galápagos flight or by scanning a QR code at the Quito or Guayaquil airport on the day. In the city, the Aerovía cable car links the center of Guayaquil with Durán, and its regular fare was USD 0.76.

Question 3

What to Eat

Accepted Answer

Most of Guayaquil's typical dishes come from the sea, and encebollado and ceviche are among the most eaten dishes anywhere in Ecuador. Encocado is shrimp or tuna in a coconut sauce, served with rice. Cazuela is another seafood dish of the city. Plantain is a breakfast staple, as patacones or as bolón, a ball of mashed fried plantain and cheese. Empanadas de viento are made with wheat flour and filled with stretchy cheese.

Question 4

Tipping and Currency

Accepted Answer

A 10 percent tip is usual in Ecuadorian restaurants that serve many visitors, but check the bill first. A 10 percent service charge is often already on the bill, alongside the 15 percent IVA sales tax. If it is there, you do not need to add another 10 percent. Locals rarely tip taxi drivers. At most, round the fare up to the next dollar. Ecuador uses the US dollar.

Question 5

The City

Accepted Answer

Guayaquil stands on the west bank of the Guayas River and is Ecuador's largest city and main port. Its nickname is La Perla del Pacífico, the Pearl of the Pacific. About 70 percent of Ecuador's private exports leave through the port of Guayaquil. Las Peñas, the quarter where the city was born, was declared part of Ecuador's cultural heritage in 1982, mainly for its houses, some of them more than a century old. Eleven former presidents of Ecuador lived in Las Peñas, and writers including Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Neruda stayed there for a time.

Question 6

History

Accepted Answer

The Spanish founded Guayaquil as a shipyard and port in the 1530s, and it has been Ecuador's main commercial port ever since. It was the first Ecuadorian city to win its independence from Spain, in 1820. Founding: After several failed attempts, the Spanish established the city in the 1530s as Santiago de Guayaquil, on the site of a native village; the founding is credited to Francisco de Orellana. The hill: After more moves and fires, the town settled for good in 1547 on the western slopes of Cerro Santa Ana, where Las Peñas stands today. Pirates: On 20 April 1687 English and French pirates attacked and looted the city, and the fire they started destroyed about a third of the town. Independence: On 9 October 1820, civilians backed by soldiers of a local battalion overthrew the Spanish authorities almost without bloodshed, and Guayaquil declared itself a free province. A meeting of liberators: On 26 July 1822 Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín met in Guayaquil to plan how to finish the fight for South American independence. The great fire: In 1896 a fire destroyed large parts of the city. Cacao money: In the cacao boom of the 1920s, wealthy landowners moved into Las Peñas and built most of the grand houses that stand there now. Malecón 2000: The old riverfront promenade was rebuilt from 1998, and the first stage of the new Malecón 2000 opened in October 1999. Earthquake: On 16 April 2016 a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the coast, and Guayaquil was among the places hit. To learn more ashore: The MAAC, the Anthropological and Contemporary Art Museum on the Malecón at Loja Street, holds a collection of about 50,000 archaeological pieces from Ecuador, alongside modern art.

Question 7

With Children

Accepted Answer

If you do spend time in Guayaquil with children, keep the outing short and central, travel between stops in a taxi your hotel has booked, and go by day. The iguanas of Parque Seminario suit the youngest, and the climb up Cerro Santa Ana suits children with energy to spare. Younger children: Parque Seminario, opposite the cathedral in the city center, is home to hundreds of green iguanas, about 350 at a count in 2017, and has a pond with turtles. School age: The 444 steps of Cerro Santa Ana end at an 18-meter lighthouse and a naval museum with cannons from the days when pirates raided the city. Teenagers: Boat trips on the Guayas leave from the Malecón 2000 piers by day and at night.

Guayaquil, Ecuador

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